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New Man to Forum

Greetings
I am a married man in my forties, father to two boys (4.5 year old and a 2.5 year old) and one on the way. I am a history / economics / poli sci / geography highschool teacher by profession, but homeschool now. I'm moving to a homestead in the Ozarks on the Oklahoma / Arkansas / Missouri border later this month. I'm a genealogist attempting to get certified and member of the First Families of the Twin Territories, Sons of Confederate Veterans and Sons of the American Revolution. I'm a former paratrooper.

I've been interested in Beekeeping since my twenties but never was settled in one place long enough to do it. I was hustled into buying some hive kits from a Tulsa beekeeper two years ago, had to sell them back to him, but two months ago took a local beekeeping class, bought 3 hives and traded a friend for an old one he inherited and a bunch of parts. The used one has two deeps, and four shallows, two tops and bottoms.

I ordered two colonies of bees from the man that taught my local class (he is the largest supplier of Bees in Oklahoma), I havent figured out what I will do for the other two hives.

Re: New Man to Forum

Re: New Man to Forum

thanks everyone. rader a couple of the used supers I traded for are in really bad shape. I wonder if they are big enough to attract a swarm? Would it help to put frames with foundations in them? if so, how many?

Re: New Man to Forum

Any foundation in swarm traps is for the beekeeper's purposes, not the bees. There are some that think that foundation may even negatively affect the bees evaluation of that potential new home, but I don't know that.

My swarm traps have frames without foundation. Those frames do have a comb guide on the bottom of the top bar.

If your old boxes have a "bee" smell (at least to the bees) that is a plus for trapping purposes. You can always move the frames to a more sturdy box later. However, the trap does need to be able to survive any transport required once/if the bees move in.